Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $104.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $101.00 to $104.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SO has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.91.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $95.33 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.40. Southern has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $107.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $4,443,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 243.3% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,753 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 127,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 21,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $2,462,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.